Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 471 Suspected People Have Suspects
In a pavilion at Loushan Pass.

Li Dingguo rested his elbows on the stone table and watched the heavy rain outside the pavilion splash on his cloak. He rested his hands on his forehead and remained silent for about half a day.

When it was over, he uttered:
"Sure enough, the Ming army is not what it used to be. The so-called know yourself and the enemy, and win a hundred battles without danger. How could you be so careless!"

Although Li Dingguo admitted that it was a surprise that the Ming army suddenly appeared from Dalou Mountain, he was not surprised by it.

After all, he had already expected this possibility, but he didn't expect that the opponent's general would use his main force to feign an attack and send a small group of elite soldiers to make a surprise attack, and the leader could recognize it as a second-rank military officer of the Ming army when he saw his armor.

What Li Dingguo didn't expect was that the large number of scouts he sent did not find any trace of the Ming army. This is enough to show that this Ming army is no longer an ordinary elite soldier. At least it is superior to his own army in terms of agility and discipline .

Moreover, when he saw the Ming army attacking the city when he was retreating, he also saw the difference in this Ming army. The school lieutenant rushed to the front, and he marched in a well-organized manner. The firearms were accurate and of good performance.

Thinking about the previous battles in Guiyang, Anshun, etc., he had to admit that the newly joined Ming army was more powerful than his own army.

"Why did the general say that?"

Since Li Dingguo started his army with Zhang Xianzhong, he has more victories than defeats, and even if he loses, he will take the initiative to retreat, predicting the enemy first, and the loss is not big.

Therefore, the officers and soldiers under his command are quite convinced of Li Dingguo. It can be said that Li Dingguo is their military soul.

Now, Li Dingguo was so depressed and depressed, Tang Ming, his confidant general, was also a little uneasy, so he couldn't help asking more questions.

"It's not that the general intends to disturb the morale of the army. Now we are no longer encountering the old officers and soldiers. We must be more cautious in the future. Their firearms and combat effectiveness are stronger than ours, and their tactics are even better than ours. I don't know who the general of the Ming army is, but he is so good at commanding, using the main force to feign an attack, and sending out surprise troops to attack my back! This general has indeed been a little too careless since he entered Guizhou, and he ignored the principle of ascertaining the enemy's situation first and planning a strategy later! "

When Li Dingguo said this, Tang Ming, his confidant general, really wanted to say that he had reminded him of Li Dingguo before, but at that time Li Dingguo didn't listen to his reminder when he was proud of the spring breeze, and now Tang Ming knew that it was meaningless to say more , it just adds:

"The last general asked someone to inquire. The opposite is a deputy commander of the Ming Dynasty Guards named Yan Yingyuan. This person was promoted to deputy commander in chief by the emperor of Ming Dynasty because he captured Hong Chengchou alive in Henan at the end of last year."

"Yan Yingyuan?" Li Dingguo smiled awkwardly, he had never heard of this person.

However, Li Dingguo didn't want to get entangled in this matter. As a battle-tested general, it was impossible for him to continue to slump because of these setbacks, so he only kept the name Yan Yingyuan in his heart, and then asked:

"Did those of us in ambush meet the Ming army who were chasing us?"

"No, we set up ambushes at Yamenguan, Hailongtun, and Yong'anyi successively, but no Ming army showed up. Our subordinates even sent people to Zunyi to investigate the truth. There was no sign of the Ming army going out of the city to pursue them."

After Tang Ming said, there was a sound of footsteps, but it was the Gu Hongchang Department of Li Dingguo's army who was ordered to retreat from Wujiang Pass:

"General, we are back. This is a letter from one of our captive brothers sent by the Ming army."

Li Dingguo hurriedly opened it, but there was a line of words: "by decree, I will send you out of the country as a gift. If there is another war in the future, the general should remember the great kindness of the emperor, and don't covet it anymore. Otherwise, you will experience the pain of defeat again." !"

"Humph!"

Li Dingguo snorted, he could see that the opponent's general was more arrogant and confident than himself, which made him very angry.

Li Dingguo, who was eager to win for a while, couldn't help thinking of the fact that he had sent elite soldiers to attack Tongren City, and asked Tang Ming:
"Is there any news from the direction of Tongren?"

Although Li Dingguo can already guess that since the Ming army here has not retreated for a long time, and even sent him out of the country instead of chasing him, it means that his plan may have failed, but he still hopes to make a comeback.

"Not yet, the last general has sent someone to inquire."

When Tang Ming said this, Li Dingguo felt a little uneasy again, but his hope for a comeback also became stronger, so he ordered:

"Order to go down and set up camp on the spot. The army will rest here for a few days and strengthen its guard. In addition, don't disturb the people!"

Li Dingguo thought that since the Ming army had no intention of pursuing him, he would not be in a hurry to retreat back to Syria, so he waited at Loushan Pass for a few days, waiting for news from the direction of Tongren.

At this time, Li Dingguo seemed to be unable to give up until the news from Tongren Mansion.

Ten days later, Daxi soldiers under the command of Li Dingguo who attacked Tongren captured by the Ming army were released back to Loushan Pass and found Li Dingguo and informed Li Dingguo of the failure of Tongren's surprise attack.

"The Ming army had already been on alert, saying it was 20, but at that time it was true that the Ming army was all over the mountains and plains, and the city was also heavily guarded. We killed and injured more than 2000 brothers, and the deputy general Feng also died. We finally became prisoners as a last resort. Now the Ming army But suddenly let us come back, the reason is just that we need to bring a letter to you, General, a letter from Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian."

After a military officer spoke, Li Dingguo took the letter from him and read it carefully, but after reading it, he threw the letter on the ground angrily:
"What a great Ming emperor, if you dare to divorce the relationship between Ben General, his father and the brothers, one day Ben will capture you alive!"

After finishing speaking, Li Dingguo spewed blood on the ground. After his anger was over, he began to think about when did the Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty become so powerful. The Qing Dynasty went south to Sichuan.

Li Dingguo thought about it calmly for a while, and decided not to entangle with the Ming army here, and immediately ordered the army to withdraw to Syria. At the same time, he sent a letter to Sun Kewang, saying that he had withdrawn to Syria due to the Ming army's strength, and now the Ming army occupied Zunyi. In the future, he will inevitably take back Usha, Zhenxiong and other places, hoping that his elder brother Sun Kewang will withdraw to Jiazhou as soon as possible to avoid the enemy's edge. After all, he can no longer help him after he withdraws to Syria.

At the same time, Li Dingguo also returned to Chengdu in a memorial, reporting in detail his gains and losses in Guizhou, and at the same time imploring his father, Zhang Xianzhong, to pay attention to the Manchus in the north.

Li Dingguo did not lose his mind, after all he believed Zhu Youjian's reminder.

But Sun Kewang was furious after receiving Li Dingguo's letter:
"What a second brother, am I the eldest brother, or is he the eldest brother! I will lead the troops to fight, when will it be his turn to dictate!"

Although Li Dingguo reminded Sun Kewang with good intentions, Sun Kewang became angry after all. In addition, he did have the mentality of being jealous of Li Dingguo's military achievements above his own in the past, so he often worried that Li Dingguo would deprive him of his qualification to inherit Zhang Xianzhong's throne.

(End of this chapter)